Which to use
“hésitent” and “hésiter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,812
- “hésitent” frequency rank
- #8,722
- “hésiter” frequency rank
- 22534
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hésitent | hésiter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter. | Être incertain, indécis sur le parti, sur la résolution que l’on doit prendre. |
Where the eye mixes hésitent and hésiter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. hésitent runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against hésiter's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hésitent with hésiter
A purely visual mix-up. hésitent (^((h muet))\e.zit\) and hésiter (^((h muet))\e.zi.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hésitent is recorded at frequency rank #13,812, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zit\. hésiter is at rank #8,722, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.te\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 22534, this pair ranks #357,471 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hésitent vs hésiter
Shared letters: ehisté. Private to "hésitent": n. Private to "hésiter": r.
"hésitent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "hésiter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hésitent" and "hésiter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hésitent" or "hésiter"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hésitent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hésiter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #357,471 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hésitent" and "hésiter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hésiter vs hésiterai". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #357,471 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.